Cornus sericea

"Red-rood" redirects here. For the species of bloodwort, see redroot.

Cornus sericea
Red Osier Dogwood bearing fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Cornales
Family:	Cornaceae
Genus:	Cornus
Subgenus:	Swida
Species:	C. sericea
Binomial name
Cornus sericea L.

The Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, syn. C. stolonifera, Swida sericea) is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo León in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east. Other names include Red Willow^[1][2][3], Kinnikinnick^[3], Redstem Dogwood^[1][3], Redtwig Dogwood, Red-rood, American Dogwood^[1], Creek Dogwood, and (subsp. occidentalis) Western Dogwood^[1].

Description

In the wild, it commonly grows in areas of damp soil, such as wetlands. It is a medium to tall deciduous shrub, growing 1.5–4 m tall and 3–5 m wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets. The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas. The leaves are opposite, 5–12 cm long and 2.5–6 cm broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and glaucous below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple. The flowers are small (5–10 mm diameter), dull white, in clusters 3–6 cm diameter. The fruit is a globose white berry 5–9 mm diameter.

Cultivation

Cornus sericea is a popular ornamental shrub that is often planted for the red coloring of its twigs in the dormant season.

Uses

Native Americans used the berries as food, both fresh and dried and cooked.^[4]

Some Plateau Indian tribes ate the berries to treat colds and slow bleeding.^[4][5]

Known as cansasa in Lakota, the inner bark of the red osier dogwood was also used by the Lakota and other Native Americans as "traditional tobacco", either by itself or in a mixture with other plant materials.^[6][7] Among the Algonquian peoples such as the Ojibwe, the smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, blended the inner bark with tobacco^[2], while more western tribes added it to the bearberry leaf to improve the taste.^[4][8]

The Ojibwe used Red Osier Dogwood bark as a dye by taking the inner bark, mixing it with other plants or minerals.^[1]

Species

It is a variable species, with two subspecies commonly accepted:

• Cornus sericea subsp. sericea - throughout the range of the species. Shoots and leaves hairless or finely pubescent; flower petals 2-3 mm.
• Cornus sericea subsp. occidentalis (Torr. & A.Gray) Fosberg - western North America. Shoots and leaves densely pubescent; flower petals 3-4.5 mm.

Gallery

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  shrub

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  shrub, fall

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  shrub, winter

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  twigs

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  leaf

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  twig & leaf

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  flowers

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  flowers

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  flowers

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  Cornus: specimen botanicum sistens descriptiones et icones specierum corni minus cognitarum

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  seed

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} USDA NRCS Plant Guide: REDOSIER DOGWOOD
2. ^ ^{a b} Hilger, Inez (1951, repr. 1992) Chippewa Child Life and Its Cultural Background, page 63
3. ^ ^{a b c} Hart, Jeff, and Jacqueline Moore (1992). Montana—native plants and early peoples, pages 38-39. Montana Historical Society. ISBN 0917298292
4. ^ ^{a b c} Moerman, Daniel E. (1998) "Cornus sericea ssp. occidentallis" Native American ethnobotany Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, page 178, ISBN 0-88192-453-9
5. ^ Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 353. ISBN 0-295-97119-3. 
6. ^ Herbal lore: Red Osier Dogwood
7. ^ Cutler, Charles L. (2002) Tracks that speak: the legacy of Native American words in North American culture, page 176. ISBN 0618065105
8. ^ Staff (2009) "Bearberry" Discovering Lewis and Clark The Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation

• Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. 

External links

• USDA ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network: Cornus sericea
• NRCS: USDA Plants Profile: Cornus sericea
• Profile: Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) Photos, Drawings, Text. (Wild Plants of Winnipeg from Nature Manitoba)
• Jepson Flora of California: Cornus sericea; subsp. sericea, subsp. occidentalis.
• Cornus sericea ssp. sericea images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu